‘Reduce Petrol Price Again’


Nana Akomea
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for a further reduction of the price of a gallon of petrol, as the price of crude oil on the world market continues to decline.

The party, in a press release issued yesterday in Accra and signed by Nana Akomea, Communications Director of NPP, said since September 2014, the price of the dollar in Ghana has fallen from about GH¢3.80 to GH¢3.19, whilst the price of crude oil has dropped by almost 50 percent from $103 to $56 as at yesterday.

Industry experts have also indicated that Ghanaians should not be buying a gallon of petrol at more than GH¢10.

‘Regrettably the recent revision has pegged the price at over GH¢13 per gallon, which in effect means Ghanaians are paying about 30% more for every gallon of petrol they buy. The government’s explanation is that Ghanaians should pay this extra money so that it can repay debt of over GH¢400million it owes the BDCs.

‘By this explanation, the government is in effect throwing over board the formula for fuel price adjustments which has been in place over the years.’

The party said the formula stopped the turbulence associated with fuel price adjustments and has therefore become a social pact between the government and the people until now.

‘The debt government owes the BDCs has arisen out of the so-called forex losses. These forex losses have occurred as a result of the government’s very poor fiscal and economic management, which has seen the price of the dollar rise by over 150 percent in just six years.’

It further noted that in 2014 alone, the cedi lost over 40 percent of its value by September, before regaining about 12 percent in the last three months of the year. ‘So the forex losses, which have caused government’s debt to the BDCs are largely the result of the government’s failure in fiscal and economic management. Poor innocent Ghanaians are now bearing the brunt of this government’s failure by paying higher than necessary price for petrol.’

Government is penalising poor Ghanaians by making them pay for effects of its economic mismanagement, the party said, indicating that the debt could have been easily settled by the US$100 million fraudulent payments at GYEEDA.

‘It very worrying that while the NDC government is quick to tax poor, innocent Ghanaians; they are not so quick in retrieving taxpayers’ money fraudulently paid out by the same government

 BY Samuel Boadi

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